Family plays a central role in the treatment of drugs and alcohol because addiction is a family disease. By offering family therapy options, treatment centers like San Antonio Recovery Center (SARC) help clients and families find a common bond—one that works to heal not just the person in treatment but the relationship they have with the people they love. Family therapy helps the family and the individual in recovery.
What Is Family Therapy?
Family therapy focuses on one of the most important support systems for someone in addiction treatment. These are also some of the most complicated relationships people face.
Family therapy works to validate family members’ feelings and rebuild relationships that may be damaged by drug use. It is also about providing the necessary education to people who might not understand addiction’s nature and that it is a disease.
There are many different models of family therapy, but they all aim to help the family members communicate better, understand each other’s perspectives, and support each other through the addiction recovery process.
It’s not always easy for families to talk about Addiction Recovery. It can be difficult to face up to the reality that a loved one is struggling with addiction.
But family therapy provides a space for families to talk openly and honestly about their feelings, thoughts, and experiences. It can help families heal the damage that addiction has caused and rebuild trust and communication.
What Are the Benefits of Family Therapy?
Substance use can lead to feelings of anger, resentment, guilt, and anxiety. In some cases, there may be family violence involved or legal issues like theft. Family therapy brings all these issues into the open so that they can be dealt with in a safe environment.
Some benefits of family therapy include:
- Set boundaries – It’s important that everyone understand where the boundaries lie to avoid conflicts that might trigger a relapse.
- Open communication – Communication tends to shut down when there is addiction within a family. Therapy gives families a forum to talk about how they feel and how addiction may affect their lives.
- Rebuilds relationships – Substance abuse can damage relationships; family therapy works to rebuild them.
- Responsibilities – Family therapy provides support to family members who may be taking some responsibility for monitoring or supporting someone with a substance use disorder.
- Rebuilding trust – Trust is often the first casualty in addiction. By its very nature, addiction makes its victims untrustworthy. In recovery, it’s important to restore the trust that others have in you.
In addition, family therapy takes a closer look at the functioning of the family system, looking for behaviors that might be unhealthy such as codependency.
What Is Codependency?
Codependency is sometimes the result of a dysfunctional family unit dealing with addiction. Someone may be codependent if their behavior enables someone else’s substance abuse. For example, a mother who gives rent money to a child might do so while knowing they will likely use it to buy drugs.
Codependency is enabling behavior that removes the consequences of drug use. The adage that some people must hit rock bottom before they get drug and alcohol treatment is pretty accurate. Consequences of drug use like homelessness or getting in legal trouble often lead a person with substance use disorder to reach out for help.
A family therapist will look for codependent behaviors so that they can be discussed openly as part of the treatment. Once those behaviors are clear, the family can work together to prevent them in the future.
Finding the Right Drug and Alcohol Treatment Program
Family involvement in substance abuse treatment is critical because it will be one of the most important support systems after that treatment ends. When looking at different treatment programs, check to see if they offer family therapy options. San Antonio Recovery Center (SARC) provides a full continuum of services that includes:
- Detox
- Residential treatment
- Intensive outpatient therapy
- Aftercare services
- Family therapy
- Gender-specific sessions
Along with the standard therapeutic approaches, SARC offers recreational therapy options such as yoga and meditation. They also provide a sober living program for women.
SARC believes that the 12-step philosophy for treatment offers clients the best chance at meaningful recovery and that making treatment affordable is essential. They provide an affordable pricing schedule that helps families get help when they need it.
Families should know that addiction does not have to crush them. There is help available. Find out more about the family therapy program at San Antonio Recovery Center by calling us today at 866.957.7885. or contact us online.
